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Those who exited the stage for good in '06

We’re posting again. And we went through the year of postings to assemble a list of those folks who were comedy-related who passed away in the past twelve months. Here is that list.

Red Buttons, comedian and actor, 87

Don Knotts, comedian and actor, 81

Al Lewis, comedian, actor, club owner, 92

Jan Murray, comedian, 89

Allan Johnson, Chicago Trib columnist, 46
Johnson wrote often about, and was a fan of, standup comedy.

Blair Shannon, comedian, 46
The comic was shot to death in his hotel room in St. Thomas, while working on a cruise ship.

Richard DeAngelis, comedian and actor, 73
The actor portrayed Col. Raymond Foerster on HBO’s The Wire and performed earlier as a comedian under the name Ricky Roach.

Lyn Bartlett, longtime Punchline (ATL) employee
Among three people brutally murdered in a home invasion in her farmhouse in Cumming, GA.

Matt Long, comedian
Hit by a car on Highway 33 in Ventura County

Robert K. Hoffman, one of the three original founders of National Lampoon, 59

Peter Boyle, actor, 71

Joe Restivo, restarateur and onetime standup comic, 54
(Not to be confused with Joe Restivo, longtime comedian who still merits the bold type because he is still very much alive and performing. The live Restivo battled the confusion caused by the matching names and similarity in vocations.)